Always Stay By My Side
by Lis Lawliet
Summary: Kanou confesses his feeling to Oda, but will Oda accept them? One-shot. Fluffy fluff.


The announcement speakers echoed in the dugout where Oda sat, his back leaning against the cool wall behind him. He was slowly sinking into a deep depression, and he didn't know why. He put his hands on his knees, leaning forward, peering to the side where Kanou was playing catch with Hatake, the catcher.

"Nice throw!" Hatake yelled over to Kanou, throwing the ball back.  
>Never mind. He knew why. Oda clenched his hands into fists, looking away.<p>

"It is the top of the ninth inning, Mihoshi at bat," the announcer was saying, "The score is Mihoshi, 5, and Sakitama, 6."

The battery finished playing catch and walked into the dugout, but Kanou didn't even look in Oda's direction. Oda felt a pang in his chest, wanting to call out to Kanou, explain himself, but shook the urge off, standing.

"Oi, oi. Everyone gather up!" Oda yelled instead, his hands behind his head, adjusting his voice to the usual laid back tone. "We're one behind and it's the ninth inning," Oda paused, looking at his teammates anxious faces, lingering for a moment on Kanou. "We have to score at least one run, or it's going to be a called game."  
>The Mihoshi team nodded, some nervous, others not. Suddenly, Yoshi stepped forward in the circle.<br>"W-we can do it you guys!" prompting cheers and pats on the back from the rest of the team.  
>"You heard him," Oda grinned, clapping once, "Mihoshi!"<br>"MIHOSHI!"

The announcements rang in Oda's ears, "Batting third, Taguchi..."  
>Oda put his helmet on, watching the third batter step up to the plate. He was next.<br>Reaching down to get his batting gloves, Oda noticed Kanou out of the corner of his eye, laughing with Hatake. Kanou handed him a small, frosted cake.  
>Oda straightened up, staring at Kanou, looking away after a moment, missing Kanou's hurt glance at him. So this was how Kanou was going to fight? Oda shook his head, Kanou really knew how to get to him. Oda was shocked out of his thoughts by the crowds cheers. A triple.<br>"NICE BATTING!"  
>He shook his head, trying to get rid of all thoughts of Kanou from his mind. He started jogging to the batter's box, pulling his gloves on and grabbing his bat as he went.<p>

"Batting fourth, Hiroyuki Oda, first baseman."  
>Oda looked back once at the dugouts before stepping up to the plate.<br>"I'm ready."  
>The pitcher stood in front of him, ready to pitch, but Oda didn't notice. He had finally seen the hurt in Kanou's face, and he couldn't shake the image from his mind.<p>

"Strike one!"

Oda stood frozen, shocked. The baseball was sitting in the catcher's black glove. What was he doing? There was a time and place for everything, and right now he had to focus on the baseball game, not on the fight he had with Kanou right before the game. He had to calm down.  
>Well, it wasn't really a fight, Oda tried to assure himself.<br>But the hurt expression Kanou was wearing in the dugout was too similar to the expression he wore when he walked away from Oda just a couple of hours before. Too similar.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
>Kanou's hands trembled as he held up the small, frosted cake to Oda. The cake was pretty, and expensive looking. Little,white frosting flowers lined the sides. Kanou's eyes were focused to the side, his face embarrassed.<br>"Please accept it!"

"Strike two!"

Oda stepped back from the batter's box, swinging his bat a few times.  
>"You can do it, Oda!" his teammates encouraged from the dugout, "Bring the runner in!"<br>Oda shut his eyes, trying to remember where the last two pitches had been. Nothing.  
>Oda stepped up to the plate again, "Ready," he said to the umpire calmly, but inside he was anything but.<br>One more chance. He had one more chance to be the clean up hitter. One more chance to bring the runner in. The pitcher winded up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oda took the cake in one of his hands.  
>"Thank you, Kanou-kun," he said, lifting the cake to eye level to look at it, "Did you make this yourself?"<br>Kanou's eyes softened, and smiled. "Y-yeah, I made it," Kanou's face suddenly got redder, putting his hands behind his back, looking down, "I made it for you, Oda-san."  
>Oda just nodded his thanks and started walking to the locker room, thinking about the game ahead, cake balanced in his hand.<br>"O-Oda!" Kanou called from behind him, making the older boy turn around.  
>"Yeah?"<br>Kanou paused, finally running up to the other boy until they were almost touching. "I-I like you!" Kanou's face was fully flushed, his eyes stubborn.  
>"What?" was all Oda could say, face still calm, trying to conceal his surprise. He stepped back. "I mean, what is this all of the sudden?"<br>Kanou closed the space between them again, looking up into Oda's eyes. "I-I thought it was obvious! I like you, so I made you a cake!"  
>Oda, shocked by the sudden confession, involuntarily stepped back again, "You might want to think about what you're saying," he warned.<br>Kanou shook his head vigorously, making fists with his hands by his sides, "I've already  
>thought about it. I've thought about it everyday!" He blushed harder, eyes starting to water a bit with fresh tears."I've thought about you everyday!"<p>

The cake suddenly felt heavy in Oda's hand, and he put up his free hand defensively.  
>"You really shouldn't be thinking about me everyday, Kanou."<br>Kanou wiped away his tears, putting a hand on Oda's chest.  
>"Are you going to accept my feeling...or not?"<p>

"I...I'm sorry, Kanou-kun."  
>Oda placed the cake back in Kanou's small, shaking hands.<p>

Hatake now held the cake in his hands, watching Oda bat. Tsk, Oda thought, am I that easy to replace?  
>"Oda! Watch out!" he heard someone scream from the dugout.<p>

It was a fastball.

Oda found himself on the ground, both hands pressing against his side where the ball hit him, trying to hold the pain inside. He clenched his eyes shut. I'm an idiot, he thought, I'm a big idiot. Oda tried to get up, stumbling onto his knees. Oda held his side tighter, putting his forehead to the dirt. But all Oda could see now was Kanou's face. His rejected face. His sad face. His hurt face. And it was Oda's fault. There was pain now in his chest as well as his side. The pain gnawed at him, throbbing and pulsing until everything went black.  
>The whole team ran out from the dugouts, rushing to Oda. Everyone except Kanou.<br>He remained in the dugout, holding the bars, his knuckles turning white, eyes wide. Was Oda seriously hurt? Did Oda's getting hit with the pitch have to do with his confession before the game? He peered nervously at the cake that sat on the bench, placed there when Hatake ran out to the field. Where I should be, Kanou thought. But he was rooted to the spot he stood, trembling.  
>The team stood anxiously and watched as coach and the umpire struggled to carry Oda off the field, shouting at someone to call an ambulance.<br>The stadium was eerily quiet, a few murmurs from the crowd.

"Coming in for Oda on base is..." the announcements blared.  
>Finally, the coach had come back to the dugout, taking off his hat, addressing his shaken team, "Don't worry about Oda, right now we have to focus..."<p>

Kanou stared staight ahead, no longer listening to the coach. How could they play a baseball game when Oda was on his way to the hospital? How could Oda get two strikes and then get hit by a pitch? How could he visit Oda at the hospital without swallowing his pride? How could he face Oda again?  
>His face flushed. He was angry at Oda and himself. The brim of his cap covered his eyes, now sparkling with tears. "Guilt, that's what I feel," Kanou mumbled to himself. I should've known Oda didn't like me like that. I embarrassed myself and distracted Oda from the game. I'm an idiot, Kanou thought, a big idiot.<p>

"You sure you don't want to come visit Oda?" Yoshi asked after the game.  
>"No." Kanou mumbled, "But send me a mail to tell me how he is, got it?"<br>Yoshi shrugged, waving as he ran out to the parking lot with the rest of the team.

The bright hospital lights blinded Oda as he slowly opened his eyes to his teammates standing around his bed.  
>"Kanou...isn't here?" he asked weakly, touching the bandages that consumed his upper body.<br>The rest of the team shook their heads.  
>"Oh."<p>

Later, Kanou opened the message before his phone even had the chance to ring.  
>"Two broken ribs," Yoshi wrote, "hurt his lungs or something. Doctors said should be home in couple of days."<br>Kanou ran out his front door onto the street, tears threatening to spill out in anger and shame, grabbing his coat as he went. He couldn't wait a couple of days.

Oda stared out of his hospital window, lightly touching the bandages again. He coughed, wincing at the pain in his ribs.  
>"Guilty, that's what I feel," Oda said aloud.<br>"Did you say anything?" the nurse inquired, placing a glass of water at his bedside.  
>"No," Oda smiled at the kind looking woman, "Thank you."<br>The nurse walked out and Oda returned to looking out his window.  
>He gazed up at the stars that had started appearing in the sky. His chest still hurt.<p>

"Why do I feel this crappy?" he thought to himself. He had put down Kanou gently, given back his cake instead of crushing it under his foot or something jerky like that. Then why did he feel like he had make a big mistake. Oda stared at the stars again, taking note of how far away they all seemed.  
>Unless. Unless, Oda should've accepted Kanou's feelings. Maybe Oda...<br>Oda closed his eyes, about to drift into restless, pain-killer induced sleep.  
>"Oda!"<br>Oda jumped, and stared blankly at the disheveled boy that had just burst into his room. But, inside his heart was racing.  
>"...Kanou..."<br>Kanou was panting, his face flushed. He stumbled over to the bed, falling to his knees, his face becoming buried in the covers.  
>"Oi, Kanou! A-Are you okay?"<br>Oda noticed Kanou's shoulders heaving up and down. He was...crying.  
>Oda cringed, putting his hand on top of Kanou's head.<br>"Hey, K-Kanou... Kanou! Stop crying, please."  
>Kanou lifted his head slightly, tears running down his cheeks, his eyebrows furrowed.<br>"This is my fault!" he gulped, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. This is all my fault! I'm sorry..I'm sorry..I'm sorry.." He buried his face in the covers again.  
>Oda sighed, looking back out to the stars.<br>"I should be the one apologizing, not you," he murmured.  
>Kanou's head snapped up from the bed, tears still trailing from his eyes, "No! You didn't do anything! Let me accept the responsibility!"<br>Suddenly, Oda sat up in his bed, gently taking Kanou's face in his hands.  
>"O-Oda!" Kanou stammered, eyes wide.<br>Oda smiled, leaning forward until their lips met. Kanou's lips were cold from him being outside, but the kiss lasted long enough to warm them up, the warmness spreading throughout their bodies. They only seperated when the pain in Oda's side was too much to bear. He let go of Kanou, flopping back on to his bed, gasping.  
>Kanou sat frozen, "...What..."<p>

Oda noticed that the pain in his chest had almost dissapeared.  
>"Why did I feel that crappy?" he thought to himself. He had put down Kanou gently, given back his cake instead of crushing it under his foot or something jerky like that. Then why did he feel like he had make a big mistake. Oda stared at the stars again, smiling to himself. Unless. Unless, Oda should've accepted Kanou's feelings.<br>Maybe Oda had always liked Kanou too.  
>Oda looked back into Kanou's eyes, reaching up to wipe away a tear on the boy's flushed cheek.<p>

"I'm sorry," Oda started, continuing before Kanou could object again, "Is the offer with the cake still open?"  
>Kanou gaped at Oda, before a new waterfull gushed out of his eyes. He pulled himself on top of Oda, making the bandages wet with his tears.<br>Oda gasped in pain, but wrapped his arms around Kanou regardless.  
>Kanou looked up from Oda's chest, his face now beaming, "Yeah, I can bake you another cake."<br>Oda smiled, kissing the top of Kanou's head.  
>"You don't have to...I've already accepted it."<br>And Kanou smiled, a smile that cured Oda's hurting chest. A smile that erased all doubts in Oda's mind on whether he had made the right choice.  
>Oda closed his eyes, still holding Kanou close to his heart, starting to drift into a peaceful sleep, hoping that Kanou would still be laying there by his side in the morning. <p>


End file.
